The match was the first of three for Canada on its European tour. The Canadian women meet France again on Tuesday in Amneville before taking on England on Nov. 13 at the Twickenham Stoop.

Canada started slowly Saturday and was down 12-0 after giving up two tries.

Farella used her speed to score the first try with North Vancouver's Andrea Burk adding the conversion to trim the deficit to 12-7.

In the second half, Quebec City's Magali Harvey grabbed Ghislaine Landry's deft kick over the French winger for Canada's second try. Farella scored again and Burk added the conversion but the French also kept the scoreboard turning.

"We are frustrated because we could have won today," Canadian coach Francois Ratier said. "Our start was not great and sometimes we had a lack of connection between each other, but I am not worried about the capacity of this group to fix it and come back stronger on Tuesday against France again in Amneville."

"We are still in a selection process for the (2014) World Cup and it is important to give a chance to all these players to demonstrate their skills under pressure," he added.